Clayton Kershaw quotes: on faith, humility, letting go, life after pitching, and more.
“I had so much anxiety about my own life [growing up]. If there was something that was needing to get done, I’d rather do something myself than let other people do it for me.”
“She [his mom] took on some pretty serious debt so I could play on the best sports teams. She did a great job making sure I never went without.”
“I never thought in a million years I’d get to play professional baseball.”
“I’ll never take for granted the opportunity to put on a Dodger uniform.”
“As far as on the field, nobody cares about how much money you’re making if you perform.”
“It might sound stupid, but it’s the little things that help me in baseball.”
“God chose me for a reason.”
“For me, it’s about the legacy you leave off the field. It’s about how many people I can affect through the platform He gave me.”
“Because we call ourselves Christians, our actions need to reflect Christ.”
“Baseball is going to end some day. I realize that as soon as you retire, you know, people forget about you in this game fast! There’s the next young guy coming up that’s always better than you. So, for me, it’s just about using baseball as a platform to do a lot of things.”
“I know I didn’t do anything to deserve the talent that God gave me. What a blessing it is to throw a baseball for a living! I know I’m very privileged to get to do that, so, that said, I don’t want to take that for granted. I want to do everything I possibly can to make it worth my while, make it worth God’s time. With that comes a competitive advantage. I think I’m pitching for a lot more than just winning a baseball game – trying to honor Him in everything I’m doing… and winning’s pretty fun too! So, I like doing that!”
“I’ve got an air mattress for a bed – really living the high life.”
“I think a lot of things get wrestled around with Christianity in this day and age about what it means, what it stands for, and I think it gets the wrong connotation all over the world. So, for me, using baseball and using Jesus’ name – I really just want to focus on Him. I don’t want to think about Christianity or the religious aspect of it. You just want to focus on Jesus and loving Jesus. Saying you’re a Christian shouldn’t turn people off. You should love people well and that’s Jesus’ first commandment!”
“The harder you want to control something, the more it gets out of your control.”
“The more you try to grip control of your life, the more God’s gonna untangle that from you. He’s going to make things go where you have to rely on Him.”
“Everyone talks about how hard it is to have a kid, and that scares you into waiting. It obviously is tough [to be a parent], but when you feel that love, and it’s instant, and it’s so cool, so fun. When your baby smiles at you or when you just hold your baby, it’s a pretty awesome feeling.”
“The prayer I say before I go out there and pitch is not ‘God, let me win today’ or ‘God, help me pitch good.’ It’s ‘God, be with me.'”
“You’ve got to remind yourself you’re supposed to stand out. You’re supposed to be different. And you’re supposed to act boldly in your faith.”
“It’s worth the fight.”
“My name is Clayton Kershaw and I am Second.”
Related: Stephen A. Smith quotes.
